Desire, My Loved One
by Cerulean Pen
Summary: Jessie never thought of love as a complex thing, until she truly experiences it. After being roped into a play, in which she must kiss Buzz, she gets stage-fright, while the others try to boost her confidence before Buzz can find out. Major Buzz/Jessie.


Desire, My Loved One

Summary: Jessie never thought of love as a complex thing, until she truly experiences it. After being roped into a play, in which she must kiss Buzz, she gets stage-fright, while the others try to boost her confidence before Buzz can find out.

English Romance/Friendship Rated: K+ Chapters:1 Words: Buzz Lightyear & Jessie Complete

**No notes of inspiration, nor amazing anecdotes to write today, just a simple one-shot to deliver. Love is such a truly complicated thing, but it seems to me that Jessie could never think of it that way, until she was caught in the wing of romance itself. I do not own Toy Story, or do I own the play, "Romeo and Juliet", for that was written by William Shakespeare. (Forgive me for any mistakes about the play, I know little about it, but renovated the story so that she kisses him right before she dies.) Read, review, and enjoy.**

Jessie was caught at the radio again, mischievously turning the dial, amusement causing the tips of her pink lips to twitch in suppressed laughter. Her emerald eyes twinkled in amusement, about to let the dial rest on the Spanish Channel, before the radio was unplugged. Angry, she traced the fallen cord down the floor, where Woody stood, holding the end of the cord in his vinyl hand.

"No messing with Buzz's head today," the cowboy lectured, as the redhead rolled her eyes, continuing to sit upon the shelving unit, taking to crossing her arms. The Sheriff might've been her brother-older of course, a fact he never let her forget-but she could take care of herself, let alone the space ranger she cared so deeply for.

"You can't tell me what to do," Jessie called back down saucily, even though she knew that she had lost already, so she crossed her legs, watching as Woody shook his head at her, disappearing under the bed, reappearing on the other side, caught up in the bustle of Bonnie's room while their owner was away. Bonnie's rag doll, Dolly, asked him something that Jessie couldn't catch, as the two walked over to the tea table, grabbing a notebook as they went.

"Jess?"

Startled, she jumped, leaning over the shelf a moment to see Buzz on the floor, looking up curiously at her, with the same "oh, Jessie" expression that always seemed to be on his soft, plastic face. "Hey Buzz," Jessie answered, her voice surprisingly calm, even though her own heart was beginning to beat a little erratically. "Care to join me?"

"You bet," came from the ground, as Jessie leaned back, her boots resting on a stack of children's CDs, waiting for her space ranger companion to join her. The view was quite nice from the top shelf, as they could overlook Bonnie's whole room, with the window in the exact opposite location on the far wall.

Buzz finally came, scooting over next to her, so they sat in silence a moment, watching the toys take place in whatever they pleased. Rex and Trixie, as usual, were partaking in another, rather pointless, fantasy game on the computer, little shouts coming from the pair every few minutes. By the window, Slink, and the attic fairy, Crystal, played a game of checkers, lazily lying in the patch of sunshine. It was all peaceful, watching their family settle in, as they were safe on the shelf.

"Buzz?"

"Yes?"

"Do you love me?"

_Where in the world did such a question come from? _Buzz thought to himself, as his cheeks went red, much as they always did when the subject of their relationship was brought up. There was too much stutter to mask as he turned to her pleading eyes, his mouth seeming to go dry. "Of course I do, Jess," he stuttered, as her glowing face seemed to dim, at the hesitation and uncertainty in his voice.

"Buzz! We need your help!" came Woody's voice from across the room, as the two looked up, finding that most of the toys were clustered around Totoro, who now had a gash running down his side, the work of a pair of craft scissors falling from Bonnie's desk. Dolly ran to the situation with a needle and spool of gray thread, but the cowboy was still calling for him.

"Uh, sorry, I gotta go," he stammered, before sliding off of the shelves, quickly running over to the incident, leaving Jessie alone with her thoughts. Tears started to well up in her eyes, but she brushed them away with her sleeve, emotion causing her throat to constrict. Why in the world did she ask him that, surely he did not know if he truly liked her yet?

"This is ridiculous," Jessie stated to herself, turning her cloth body away from the toys on the ground, making her form invisible to anyone below. Love was such a strange thing to her now, as it had been nothing more then a subject to see or hear occasionally. Back then, it had seemed so fickle, so out of the question, but Buzz had completely changed it all.

Now, she was stuck with the question: did Buzz really, truly love her, or was this puppy love? She placed a hand glumly on her cheek, watching him try to reassure the non-speaking stuffed animal that his wound could be repaired. Eventually, the crowd broke away, as Totoro bounced away, good as new, settling on a pillow.

Jessie didn't hear the female toys arrive, but when she turned her head, there they were anyway, Mrs. Potatohead pulling Dolly onto the shelf, as Crystal fluttered above them, her ice blue wings absolutely vibrating. "What are you girls doing here?" she asked, trying her best to hide the tears in her eyes.

"To talk about Buzz, of course," Dolly retorted, settling next to her cowgirl friend, as the other female toys sat beside her. "We're the only ones who came because Trixie was a little wrapped up in her game, and because Mrs. Potatohead has a little more knowledge about romance then we do."

"Thanks for this, but I don't need to talk about Buzz," Jessie quickly responded, uncrossing her legs to smooth the fringe on her chaps. Dolly raised her eyebrow, as Crystal fluttered into the air again, her eyes nervously flickering between Jessie and Dolly. "Our relationship is…"

"Darling, you don't need to pledge love to each other," Mrs. Potatohead injected, placing her pink, plastic purse by the radio, adjusting her white hat. "You can love Buzz, even if you've never truly said the three words, or if you don't express it through actions either. Love isn't exactly something you can say or do, it just…happens." She got a dreamy look in her eyes, as Jessie stood, stomping her boot angrily against the bottom of the shelf, startling Crystal back onto the shelf.

"Why does it have to be so complicated?" she groaned, as Dolly placed her chin in her hands, watching the cowgirl pace back and forth, wishing she knew enough about love to offer some advice. No, she didn't have a romantic background, but she rather liked it that way, even if she didn't have much to offer about Buzz and Jessie's situation. "I mean, love seemed so simple before I actually felt it! Now, it's like I'm a hurricane, so many emotions swirling around, like some kind of diva!"

Mrs. Potatohead couldn't help but laugh a little at her last remark, as Crystal landed next to Jessie, putting one of her thin hands on her shoulder. "Don't worry Jess, I'm sure you'll be able to sort things out, Buzz isn't that complicated of a toy. Love is supposed to be confusing and emotional, that's basically what it was invented for."

It was hard to argue with the kind of logic the fairy used, minus the fact her relationship with Slink seemed so easy. "I guess your right," she slowly agreed, as the ice blue clad figurine smiled in relief, flying upwards once more, waving to Slink from across the room.

The four female toys descended from the shelves, landing on the ground safely, unaware of the conversation going on in between Hamm, Mr. Prickle Pants, and Buttercup, who were all arranged on a pillow, arguing about their production tonight, which was supposed to "My Neighbor, Totoro" but, considering the stuffed animal's injury, he couldn't be in the play.

"I still think we should do 'West Side Story'," Hamm prompted, as Buttercup snorted, rolling his eyelash fringed blue eyes. "Hey, it's a classic musical, don't you just roll your eyes at it, you were the one who voted for 'Rent.'"

Mr. Prickle Pants scoffed at their more modern choices for a production, sticking to the ancient works of Shakespeare, even as far as the ancient Greeks. "Why don't we simply do a remake of 'Romeo and Juliet' without using the Aliens as our Juliet?"

Hamm and Buttercup didn't want to argue with that, mostly because they rather enjoyed the story. It was a good idea, so they nodded, as casting came into view, deciding whom should play the prestigious roles of Romeo and Juliet. No one in Bonnie's room (except for Mr. Prickle Pants) was exceptionally good at acting, so toys cast as characters were often less then mediocre.

Hamm finally got an idea, after seeing Buzz and Jessie up on the shelf earlier, jumping to his feet. "Why don't we cast Jessie as Juliet and Buzz as Romeo, that'd be perfect!" he exclaimed, as Buttercup placed a yellow hoof to his chin before standing in agreement, leaving the final decision to the green clad hedgehog, who didn't hesitate.

"Brilliant idea, they'd be perfect for the roles," Mr. Prickle Pants announced, looking over at the cowgirl among her female friends. "Now, let's go tell them, we need to set up the theater, the play has to be tonight, Bonnie's staying over at her grandmother's house."

The three started towards Buzz, who was aiding Mr. Potatohead in rounding up the Green Alien Men and the Peas in a Pod, who were all bouncing around rambunctiously. Mr. Prickle Pants cleared his throat, catching the space ranger's attention, as Peaty snuck past him, laughing the whole time. "Mr. Lightyear, we have chosen _you _to be Romeo at the theater's production of 'Romeo and Juliet.' Miss Pride will play Juliet, of course, would you care to be an actor?"

Buzz felt his jaw go slack, staring at the stuffed hedgehog in shock, as Buttercup chuckled under his breath. "Me? Me, be Romeo, in a play, acting, kissing Jessie, dying with a knife in my chest?" Right before "no" could pass his lips, he thought of how upset Jessie had been on the shelf, so he formulated a plan, turning back to the toys. "Okay," he agreed calmly, surprising the three, as Mr. Prickle Pants nodded formally.

"Be at the theater in ten minutes, we have some rehearsing to do," he instructed, before they turned, in search of Jessie, who was petting Bullseye. "Oh, Miss Pride?" he called, as she looked surprised a moment, not used to being named Miss Pride so formally.

"Yeah?" Jessie answered, giving Bullseye one last kiss before he galloped off, finding interest in a pile of ribbon that lay on the floor. The brown stuffed horse managed to get his hooves tangled in the silky, white material, yet still bat at the ends with his nose, amused and fascinated.

"We were wondering if you'd like to play the role of Juliet in tonight's production 'Romeo and Juliet'," he explained, gaining the same reaction from Jessie as they did from Buzz. Her mouth went wide, as did her eyes, waiting for an ear-splitting yell to erupt from her.

"ME?" she exclaimed, quite loudly, as Hamm wished he could cover his ears, shaking his head at her over-dramatic reaction. _Why me? _Jessie thought to herself frantically, knowing that if they had made her Juliet, Buzz would be Romeo. _Kiss Buzz? After being so confused about love? Well, maybe this could be the chance to tell him that I really do love him…_ "Fine, I'll do it."

"Good, be at the theater in ten minutes," Mr. Prickle Pants countered, as they parted ways, with Jessie shaking her head the entire time. She didn't know how she had gotten herself into this mess, but there was no easy way out of it, especially since she was going to have to kiss Buzz.

Woody and Dolly were perched on the tea table, listening to Buzz and Jessie's reluctant agreements to be in "Romeo and Juliet." After hearing Jessie agree, they knew that this was serious, bound to happen, as she turned to him, unable to hide her smile. "You know what's going to happen now," she hinted slyly, shaking out her purple ponytails, the blue and red butterfly clips bouncing.

"They're going to kiss, just like the Magic 8-Ball predicted," he answered, as she laughed, reaching out to roll the ball over to them, the triangle invisible in the inky black substance. "I never though these things would work, especially after all I ever got was 'don't count on it' but I guess they do."

Unable to lift the heavy ball up, Dolly stood to ask the question, her felt, fingerless hands over the plastic surface. "Will the play end in a disaster?" she asked it softly, pushing all of her weight against the device to shake it, both leaning in over the circle to see what their answer was.

"Yes, definitely."

Jessie walked over the to stage Mr. Prickle Pants and Buttercup had constructed so long ago, as Hamm passed her a script, which she scanned, blushing as she read some of the things she told Buzz. "I really gotta say all of this?" she asked, leafing through the many, many pages of the script.

"It's called acting cowgirl," the piggy bank countered, as Buzz approached her, gaining his own script. The two sat next to each other in awkward silence, reading their own lines, both shocked by some of the things they were required to say. The play was only condensed a little bit, so a lot of the original lies were in the script, written in the old-time language, in contrast to Jessie's Southern twang.

Finally, Buttercup approached them, nudging them towards the cardboard castle and balcony, where Mr. Prickle Pants stood, looking official in his hat, like a professional director. "All right, I want to go ahead and start with the scene where Romeo has poisoned himself, and Juliet stabs herself. Basically, Buzz? Be dead."

"Whatever you say," the space ranger murmured, pushing down his helmet, laying on the floor of the theater, letting his body and head go limp, his tongue halfway out of his mouth. Jessie turned red, knowing that-in Mr. Prickle Pant's condensed version-the kiss would come in this scene.

"Oh, Romeo," she sobbed, kneeling next to him, letting her fingers stroke his cheek. Remaining motionless, Buzz found himself breathless at her touch, his heartbeat going off of the charts. "Thou doth…something, something, poison. Oh, Romeo!"

This was it. Jessie leaned over Buzz, closing her eyes, her mouth slightly agape, her hands over his chest, leaning in, so close, she could feel his warm breath on her cheek, with the sensation of her vinyl hand on his plastic armor. So close, so close…

She chickened out. Jessie Pride, brave and determined, chickened out, running from the stage, leaving Buzz alone on the floor, opening his eyes to see her retreating figure. Disappointed, he sat up, placing his chin in his hands, as Mr. Prickle Pants threw the script in the air and stomped behind the stage with a shout of: "I'll be in my trailer!"

Jessie hid under the bed, her legs pulled to her chest, silently curing herself running away like that. She wanted to kiss Buzz, she wanted to so bad, but she just too…scared to, she was afraid it would mean nothing to him. No, as much as she wanted to, Jessie couldn't kiss Buzz, especially in front of all of the toys.

"Cowgirl, you're not going to get to Buzz like that," Dolly remarked, startling Jessie as she crawled under the bed next to her, brushing away a dust bunny so she could sit. "We all know you want to kiss him, just don't think of it like he's going to react at all. C'mon, just kiss the toy!"

"If you start performing a musical number based off of 'The Little Mermaid' I'm leaving," Jessie threatened playfully, as the rag doll rolled her eyes, giving her a light sock in the arm. "Really, it's okay, I'll just…skip the kiss tonight, it won't be such a big deal, this way I can't be rejected."

"Jess, you're not going to be rejected!" Dolly exclaimed, wondering why her confidence was at an all-time low. "Look, everyone else in the room knows that Buzz is in love with you, so why can't you figure that out? You're both trying to deal with love problems, so why don't you just relax? Kiss Buzz, I promise that things will be fine."

Jessie sighed, running a hand over her red braid, considering the pros and cons of kissing him. Sure, it was something she always wanted to do, but there was still the thought of being rejected. She loved Buzz, yet was on the fence about the fact that he didn't love her so much back.

"Fine."

0o0

All of the toys sat at tables, mostly just small, overturned boxes, looking at the cardboard stage. They were chatting amongst themselves, excited about the room's most lovable couple to be acting together. Finally, Mr. Prickle Pants stepped onstage, bowing at the applause, while Buttercup shone a flashlight down on him as a mock spotlight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with the well-known play, now abridged, play 'Romeo and Juliet'," he announced, as more applause echoed through the audience. "Starring our very own Buzz Lightyear and Jessie Pride as Romeo and Juliet."

Everyone quieted, as the two toys came onstage, as they watched the play take place. Hamm and Buttercup also played whoever wasn't already taken: parents, friends, other characters that were secondary to Romeo and Juliet.

To be honest, Buzz and Jessie were quite the actors, doing a very good job of falling in love with each other, expressing it through different ways, rebelling against their parents, and even did the balcony scene perfectly. Jessie found herself enjoying it, until came the scene were Buzz poisoned himself, falling to the floor dramatically, as she took a deep breath, running out beside him.

"Oh, Romeo!" she cried, stroking his cheek again, his heart not the only one beating out of control. "Poison doth do it's timely end! Oh, Romeo!" Jessie exclaimed again, throwing herself over Buzz, as he tried not to grin, doing his best to stay motionless through all of this.

Here it was. She pulled herself back up, leaning over his face, finding it hard to breathe for awhile, hearing the seconds tick by in her mind. Jessie knew everyone was watching, waiting for her to kiss him, but she was frozen, looking down at his closed eyes. She laced her arms around him, tilting his head upwards, closer to her mouth.

It was like some kind of inertia propelling her forwards, as she kissed him, their lips colliding in such a way that she couldn't express. It felt like she was floating and falling at the same time, but either way, it was magnificent, as everything else disappeared. Her face went hot, her heartbeat roared in her ears, but this was a moment never to forget.

Remembering Jessie had to stab herself, she quickly reached over, grabbed the toothpick, and pretended to sever her chest, falling to Buzz's side. With labored breathing, she took his hand, letting the seconds go by before letting out a dramatic cough, going limp on the floor.

All of the toys stood, clapping and cheering and laughing over their outstanding performance. They had finally done it, they finally kissed, but managed to make it entertaining at the same time, not an easy feat. In all of this, Slink wasn't paying attention to Bullseye, who found the ribbon, and ran with it across stage.

While Bullseye ran, he knocked the cardboard castle over onto the still collapsed Buzz and Jessie, also tearing the curtain down. Woody and Dolly ran over to the destruction, as the horse chased his ribbon around the stage, not seeming to notice the mess he had made. The two dolls got tangled up with the new lovebirds, and gave up, finally lifting a sign made of Post-It note up for the audience to see:

THE END!

**Wow, a lot longer then I thought I'd make it…ah, well, it doesn't matter, now does it? What matters is that Buzz and Jessie finally kissed, after all of that time, in the most entertaining way possible. Too bad Bullseye ruined the set at the ending…at least he did it in a very adorable way. I hope everyone enjoyed this particularly long one-shot, and, if you liked this, would be interested in "Everything But The Toy Box" and "Aboard." Please leave a review, it only takes a few seconds.**


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